


All that is underneath

by AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Dinah is a little sht, Episode tag 7x14, F/F, Laurel has no patience, Pre-Relationship, There's mentions of hospitals and injuries, so if that bothers you don't read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard/pseuds/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard
Summary: "It’s a spur of the moment thing, a slip of tongue when the taxi driver asks her where she wants to go and she automatically replies ‘Starling General Hospital’ without a moment of hesitation. Only when she’s left standing outside, eyes looking over the looming building in front of her, does Laurel realize where she actually is and why she’s there. It’s also then that the overthinking kicks in - maybe Dinah doesn’t want her there, maybe Laurel has no business going to see her since they’re not exactly what you would call ‘friends’ these days; not to mention she has no idea what room Dinah is in or if she’s allowed any visitors."
Relationships: Dinah Drake & Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance
Comments: 8
Kudos: 72





	All that is underneath

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WardenRoot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WardenRoot/gifts).



> Thank you @Starling83 for the beta!
> 
> Hope you like your gift @WardenRoot ♥

Laurel goes to see her the second her plane lands back in Star City. 

It’s a spur of the moment thing, a slip of tongue when the taxi driver asks her where she wants to go and she automatically replies _‘Starling General Hospital’_ without a moment of hesitation. Only when she’s left standing outside, eyes looking over the looming building in front of her, does Laurel realize _where_ she actually is and _why_ she’s there. It’s also then that the overthinking kicks in - maybe Dinah doesn’t want her there, maybe Laurel has no business going to see her since they’re not exactly what you would call ‘friends’ these days; not to mention she has no idea what room Dinah is in or if she’s allowed any visitors.

She pulls her phone out of her purse and begins chewing at her bottom lip as she contemplates just calling for another taxi and going home, but all she manages instead after unlocking the device is to open the text app and fire a quick message to Felicity. She scrolls through their shared messages as she not so patiently waits for a reply, her eyes easily finding the _‘Something bad happened, please call me asap it’s Dinah’_ that she had received from Felicity only a few hours prior and that had prompted her hastily return to Star City. The tendrils of fear she’d felt draping themselves around her throat when she’d first received the message are still very much there, albeit nothing more than a light pressure now that she’s been informed that Dinah is stable - yet just knowing doesn’t feel _quite enough_. She has to see it for herself. 

Laurel dreads to think _why that is._

Her phone chimes with a new message and she’s pulled out of her thoughts. Felicity seems surprised she’s back already and she’s not subtle about it, but nevertheless comes through with giving Laurel a room number and floor. She frowns at the winky face Felicity so unnecessarily added at the end of the message for some reason, and it only serves to fuel the queasy feeling in her stomach as she takes the first steps towards the main door. It doesn’t get any better once she’s inside - patients and staff alike shoot her all sorts of looks, probably wondering why the DA is strolling in dragging a large luggage case and looking like she’s been up all night. Laurel pointedly ignores them, her destination very clear in her mind. 

She takes the elevator and arrives on the right floor in no time, making a beeline for the nurses’ station nearby the second the doors open. The nurse in charge gives her an odd look over the thick-rimmed glasses precariously perched at the tip of her nose, and then her attention falls onto the paperwork she seems to be in the middle of sorting through.

“If you’re here for Dinah Drake,” she suddenly says and Laurel instantly frowns, “she’s not allowed any visitors until tomorrow afternoon. I already told the short, scary looking guy and the bubbly blonde woman as much the last ten times they asked and don’t think I won’t call security to collect you if you _ask too._ ”

Laurel narrows her eyes, straightens her shoulders and puts on her best DA voice, nerves and queasiness all but forgotten. She’s not about to let some nurse tell her whether she can or cannot see Dinah. “Do you know who I am?” she asks. Laurel watches as the woman pauses her motions to glance up, a bored expression on her face. 

“You’re the District Attorney,” the nurse says in a monotone voice, “which bears little to no weight in here. This is my floor, my patients - and if I say someone is not receiving any visitors, they really _aren’t_ . So back off before I call security and _come back tomorrow afternoon._ ”

Laurel’s grip around her phone tightens in such a way there’s a small audible crack that seems to echo around the now terribly quiet floor. She’s aware the other nurses and visitors are watching the interaction with baited breath, and somehow that gives her the excuse she wants to put the fear of _god_ into this infuriating woman. She leans across the counter, her face the perfect mask of politeness despite the rage that burns deep in her chest - which she feels in her throat in the form of a _sonic cry_ just begging to be let out. “I’m glad you’re aware of who I am,” she pauses to read over the name tag pinned to the woman’s coat, “ _Susan_ . That makes it so much easier when I contact the Clinic Director and let him know you denied the DA access to one of your patients, who so happens to be the city’s _Police Captain_ and a person of interest in an on-going investigation.”

The nurse seems momentarily unmoved, but Laurel can see the little cracks growing in her carefully crafted facade. “Is that a threat?”

“No, of course not… It’s more of a warning.” Laurel flashes her a smile that’s all danger and no kindness. “Be glad I’m giving you one, since I’m feeling particularly generous at the moment.”

There’s a moment where she really thinks she’ll have to get on the phone but then the woman, Susan, changes her song. “Okay, fine.” She lets out a sigh and just like that the white noise bubble bursts, like everyone has taken a collective breath after holding it in. “You can go in if you leave your stuff here and promise to not disturb the patient - she needs rest. Room 412.”

******

Laurel pauses the second she reaches the right door and the sight that greets her through the small window makes her stomach drop. In another life, seeing Dinah Drake lying unconscious in a hospital bed might have brought her unmeasured satisfaction, but now? Now it just makes her heart twist painfully on itself and makes all these unexplainable emotions she’d been pushing down for months float to the surface. There’s also this tug, this sudden need to care and fuss over Dinah that Laurel has no idea where it comes from, and it only adds to the trepidation she feels about entering the room.

There’s still no telling if Dinah would want her there in the first place. 

Her hand hesitates as it makes contact with the door handle, a million reasons why she should and why she shouldn’t push the door open raging a war inside her brain. And all it takes for her to make her decision _is that one stray thought_ , the one that’s been on the forefront of her mind the entire flight back to Star City.

_‘I should have been there.’_

Laurel lets out a breath through her nose as she pushes the door open and finally enters the room. The only sound inside is the steady - and reassuring - beeping coming from the heart monitor and she does her best to close the door as quietly as possible behind herself. Her heels echo across the tiled floor with every step, the sound ringing as loud as a bell and making her flinch and curse under her breath; Laurel actually contemplates just taking them off, but the thought seems foolish as it is. She’s been informed Dinah is well sedated, after all.

Now that she’s standing right next to Dinah and can clearly see the sterile bandage across her throat, the implication of what could have happened if Curtis hadn’t been able to do something finally manages to hit Laurel full force. She staggers back and subconsciously moves her right hand to touch her own neck, feeling the ghost of a pain there that’s not her own. She swallows painfully and blinks back the moisture gathering at her eyes, reminding herself that Dinah is _alive_ and _well_. 

If the man who’d hurt her wasn’t dead already, Laurel’s pretty sure she would kill him, consequences be damned. Maybe she could actually go down to hell and kill him again. She’s pretty sure her sister-not-sister knows a guy who could make that happen.

Dinah lets out a small noise, a weak little whine that’s barely audible through the beeping of the monitors and then she shifts slightly, making Laurel freeze on the spot. She seems to thankfully still be asleep, but her face is scrunched up like she’s in pain and Laurel wishes she could smooth the hard lines and make everything better. 

It’s that same thought that has her bolt out of the room not a moment later, having caught herself tugging a stray strand of hair behind Dinah’s ear that had fallen on her face when she’d shifted earlier.

******

The first unexpected text message comes late afternoon on the next day.

Laurel’s just about finished with the case she’d been busy with the entire day when her phone chimes with a new message. Her first guess is that it’s simply Felicity letting her know Dinah is awake and being allowed visitors - _maybe_ even an extra update about how she’s doing and the knowing question of when Laurel is willing to visit again - except when she unlocks the device and stares at the screen, that’s not what she finds. 

The message is from _Dinah Drake_ , of all people. 

At first Laurel assumes she’s imagining things; she even contemplates that _maybe_ Felicity has somehow managed to get her hands on Dinah’s phone and is messing with her, which seems to be a pretty messed up thought by itself. 

As if Felicity Smoak would even need to have Dinah’s phone to do that _anyways._

Laurel tries to come up with other reasons why the text is really not there, tries to come up with explanations and theories to why there’s absolutely no way Dinah would text her _from her hospital bed_ … But all she manages is nearly driving herself crazy with all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘whys’ her brain insists on supplying, and as such Laurel does the only thing a rational person would do in that situation - she reads the damn message. 

_‘Dinah Drake - 7.15 pm_

_I heard you threatened the nurse to let you come see me yesterday. That took some balls, Lance. The woman looks scary.’_

Somehow, it’s not the fact that Dinah _knows_ Laurel went by to see her yesterday that causes a turmoil in her mind and unleashes the marching band in her chest - it’s the question being asked between the lines. She knows Dinah well enough to not miss it, knows her tells and how she always asks without asking. 

She wants to know _why._ Wants to know _why_ Laurel hasn’t come to see her today now that she's awake. 

But how could Laurel answer those questions when she doesn’t know the answers herself in the first place?

Her fingers hover over the keyboard, uncertain. She bites her lips, types some words, deletes them again. Closes the phone, throws it in her bag and forgets all about the message until she’s nursing a glass of red wine in her living room and the silence becomes too suffocating to handle.

Laurel calls Felicity, makes small talk and then unabashedly asks how Dinah is doing, and when they hang up she opens the text app back up again and stares at the message she’d gotten from Dinah earlier. 

It’s hard to come up with the right words. 

‘ _Laurel Lance - 11.25 pm_

_It was worth risking the wrath of the evil nurse Susan for.’_

******

Apparently texting Dinah on and off proves to be a grave mistake. 

The woman has no patience to sit still and hang tight while she heals - which Laurel can relate to and even understand to a certain degree - but the constant messages and calls that begin flooding her phone two days later make her want to strangle Dinah. It all starts with an innocent comment from Felicity during a late night phone call, where she lets Laurel know between laughter that Dinah had attempted to check herself out of the hospital. _‘I sorta expected it,’_ Laurel replies almost immediately, after letting out a snort. Felicity simply laughs and tells her to ‘watch out’, _‘I’m pretty sure she’s going to try to get you to bail her out’._

It’s Laurel’s turn to laugh because there’s absolutely no way Dinah Drake would ask for her help with it.

Of course that proves to be a ' _famous last words'_ karmic situation _,_ because there’s a text from Dinah on her phone the very next morning and Laurel has to rub the sleep from her eyes to make sure she’s actually awake and not imagining things. 

_‘Dinah Drake - 8.45 am_

_I need you to get me discharged.’_

Laurel tilts her head, squints at it and finally frowns down at the words, and then there’s a satisfied smile tugging the corners of her mouth upwards as she replies with a quick _‘no’_ and gets up to go on with her day. And yes, in hindsight Laurel should have known stubbornness incarnate Dinah Drake wasn't going to take no for an answer - but what she didn’t expect was the long string of messages that followed, which she promptly chose to ignore.

That is until Rene shows up at her office some time after lunch, looking like someone had kicked his puppy.

“Let me guess,” she says without barely looking up from the folder she’s had her nose buried in all morning. “Dinah threatened to get you arrested if you didn’t come in here and convinced me to get her discharged.”

“Yep.”

Part of her feels bad for having him leave empty-handed - she’d heard how Dinah had arrested him before over the entire ‘protecting the vigilante’ thing - but Laurel hopes that having Rene tell Dinah she’s the one getting arrested if she doesn’t stop pestering the DA shakes her off the man’s back and her own as well. 

It turns out not to be that simple, because it’s past dinner time, Laurel is leaving the office and suddenly she finds none other than Felicity waiting for her.

“She banned us from seeing her unless we get you to get her discharged,” she blurts out and Laurel’s eyes twitch.

Damn that woman to hell. 

******

An unknown, local number is calling her office the next morning and Laurel dreads to know who it is on the other side. Dinah’s texts are still very much a constant, and it’s not unusual for Laurel to have her phone on silent when she gets especially insistent. She takes a deep breath and steels herself for what she’s guessing is incoming.

Except it’s not Dinah on the other side of the line.

It’s Susan.

Susan the nurse. 

“I’m really sorry to bother you,” she says as a way of greeting, “but your friend is getting unruly and I didn’t know who else to call.”

Laurel runs her free hand through her hair. “What did she do now…”

“She barricaded herself in her room and refused to let me and the other nurses in.”

“ _She did_ _what now?_ ”

******

She fires a quick text to Dinah the second she ends her phone call with the nurse.

_‘Laurel Lance - 10.49 am_

_Stop acting like a child and get some rest._

_And my answer is still no.’_

And the reply is almost instant.

_‘Dinah Drake - 10.50 am_

_I will stop once you get me out of this place’_

Laurel simply rolls her eyes, shakes her head and goes back to work. She ignores the way her phone vibrates every so often, that is until it’s mid-afternoon and the vibration persists and she just shoves her phone into her bag and prays to any god willing to listen for Dinah Drake to find someone else to bother; or for her to _at least_ stop acting like a child. 

It’s hard to focus with the constant threat of someone randomly showing up or getting a phone call at the office, and as such Laurel gathers her things and leaves earlier, vowing to finish up reading some case files at home. The drive back is the most peace and quiet she’s had in a while, and she ends up taking the long way home with some soft music playing from the radio in the background.

She even stops to grab some dinner. 

Only later, when she’s cosy on the couch under a blanket and mindlessly watching some random drama on TV, is when she decides to grab her phone and look at her messages. There is - as expected - a long list of messages from Dinah, along with three missed calls, but it’s the two messages from Felicity that get Laurel’s attention. 

_‘Felicity Smoak - 6.36 pm_

_I think Dinah is going to end up expelled from the hospital_

_If that’s even a thing’_

_‘Felicity Smoak - 8.09 pm_

_From a legal point of view, how much trouble would I be in if I hacked and disconnected Dinah’s phone?_

_Hypothetically of course’_

It comforts her, somehow, that Dinah has been pestering other people just as much as she’s been pestering Laurel, and it’s without hesitation that she replies to Felicity’s last message. 

_‘Laurel Lance - 11.49 pm_

_I would bail you out and pardon you for doing us all a great favor.’_

******

Laurel knows something is up the moment she glances at the clock and absolutely nothing has happened - _yet._ Her phone has been sitting on her desk, awfully silent all day, and there have been no calls or visitors. It’s almost time for her to leave for the day, and each second that thicks by only adds weight to the strange cloud looming over her head pointedly signaling that _something is definitely up._ It’s by some miracle that she manages to finish up closing the case she’d been working on - her eyes keep glancing towards the clock every now and then, and the closer it gets to half past five, the more anxious she grows. 

Fifteen minutes to and she starts bouncing her leg. 

Ten minutes to and she’s biting her nails.

Five minutes to and she begins reasoning that _maybe_ they had discharged Dinah from the hospital and the reason she hadn’t heard about it is because Dinah is probably mad at her. 

Except Laurel’s pretty sure Felicity would have at least texted her to let her know, and the only other option she can come up with is pretty laughable at best, considering there’s just no way Dinah would actually comply and stay put for once. 

It’s two minutes to and Laurel starts packing her stuff to hopefully make a quick exit and avoid whatever the universe - read _Dinah Drake_ \- may be getting ready to throw at her. She grabs her bag, grabs her coat and glances at the clock.

It’s half past five and absolutely nothing has happened and Laurel is going to leave the office, take the long way again, grab her favorite food and head home to enjoy a nice bubble bath because she deserves it. 

Only she doesn’t even make it past the door before _Oliver Queen_ , of all people, shows up.

And it’s really not hard to tell, by the look on his face, what the reason for this sudden visit may be. 

“You know what? _Fine_. If she wants to go home that bad, I’ll get her home.”

Oliver blinks down at her, rather confused. “Actually I was here to ask about this drug dealer you prosecuted last week-”

“I’ll get her discharged so we all can finally get some _peace_. Damn woman, stubborn as a mule she is-”

“His name is Steve-”

“I hope she _fucking_ chokes on a piece of pineapple-”

“Laurel-”

But she’s not even listening anymore, already pulling out her car keys from her bag as the sound of her heels thunders down the hall towards the parking garage. The elevator immediately empties the second the rest of the people leaving the office take a good look at her face - it’s both a blessing and a curse that everyone seems to fear her _this much_ \- and she takes the ride down in blissful silence, contemplating the many ways she could strangle one Dinah Drake. 

******

It’s with little to no regard that Laurel pushes the door to Dinah’s room open, only to find her sound asleep in the bed. Her brain jolts that down as _important,_ but Laurel’s so done with Dinah’s antics that she simply pauses for about a second before she’s grabbing a shirt from the bag Felicity had brought over with some clean clothes and some other little necessities. She chucks it without a care at the sleeping woman. 

Dinah jolts awake at the motion, eyes blinking and no doubt adjusting to the sudden light. She seems confused at best, a frown forming on her face as her gaze falls on Laurel and then at the shirt precariously dangling from the bed rail. She barely has time to croak out a questioning _‘Laurel?’_ as a pair of pants comes sailing her way, also thrown with little to no care. 

“Get dressed,” Laurel hastily tells her, “you’re leaving.”

The frown only intensifies, much to Laurel’s annoyance. "I am?"

Laurel lets out an exasperated sigh and pinches the bridge of her nose. She closes her eyes momentarily, trying to contain the flames of anger and all the choice words she feels dancing at the tip of her tongue, and when she opens them again she finds Dinah still looking at her confused. “Yes, you are. Isn’t that what you wanted and why you’ve been pestering me to no end?”

She’s uncharacteristically quiet at that, chewing at her bottom lip as her gaze falls down to her lap, and that’s when Laurel really pauses. Dinah looks oddly small, sitting there in the sterile hospital bed with her shoulders hunched and her eyes downcast. Laurel finds herself taking a step towards her without thinking, and when Dinah looks up there’s a pained look in her green eyes that she’d completely missed. 

“I changed my mind,” she slowly says, “you were right.” 

Dinah winces the moment the words are out, her right hand reaching up to touch the bandage covering her throat, and Laurel has never felt so much like a complete asshole than she does when the pieces of the puzzle finally click together. 

“I’m so sorry, Dinah. I didn’t realize-” she lets out a breath through her nose, interrupting her own thought, and faintly gestures towards Dinah. “I’ll go tell the nurse to disregard the papers then. And… apologize for threatening to get her fired when she said she wouldn’t get them signed.”

The other woman raises an eyebrow at that, and for a split moment there’s a knowing sliver of amusement making the corners of her mouth raise upwards, and even an edge of mirth dancing in her eyes. It doesn’t last, however. Dinah reaches for her phone, which is laying face down on the small nightstand, and signals for Laurel to grab her own. She types out a quick message while Laurel fishes her own device from her bag, and it doesn’t take long for it to ping with a new message.

_‘Dinah Drake - 5.54 pm_

_If you went through all the trouble that’s okay then’_

Laurel lifts her gaze back to Dinah once she reads the message. “Are you sure? You said you had changed your mind.” All she gets in reply to that is a slow nod, and the motion does little to nothing to convince her. “Dinah,” she tries again, sounding more stern than she had before, “don’t try to play the hero. You need time to heal.”

The words seem to drag some sort of low chuckle out of Dinah and Laurel finds herself frowning as she begins typing again and then her own phone pings.

_‘Dinah Drake - 6.02 pm_

_Didn’t know you cared that much’_

_‘Of course I do,’_ she wants to say, implications be damned; but that’s not exactly what comes out. “I don’t,” she quickly retorts, even if it rings hollow. “I just don’t want to be accused of being negligent when you get out of here and end up having to come back because you strained yourself and made things worse.”

Dinah raises an eyebrow at that and starts typing one more, but Laurel pockets her own phone to show she’s done with the conversation and starts making her way out of the door. “Get dressed. I’ll be outside at the nurses’ station.”

******

Nurse Susan glares at her throughout the entire signing of the papers, both by herself and Dinah’s doctor, who’s clearly less than impressed about discharging one of her patients earlier than she should - but considering she’s been dealing with the likes of Oliver Queen and the rest, it really doesn’t come as a surprise. Dinah joins them not long after, albeit on shaky legs, and Laurel doesn’t even think twice before she’s reaching to drape an arm around her waist to steady her. The action catches both of them off guard and they share a wide-eyed look, and Laurel briefly contemplates retracting her arm - except she doesn’t. She feels Dinah somewhat relax against her, even leaning against her side, and Laurel doesn’t really find the action as unwelcome as she should. 

Laurel doesn’t realize she’s still looking at Dinah until someone clears their throat and she awkwardly snaps her attention to the nurse and the doctor. What follows is a long list of recommendations and instructions, both spoken and written down for clarity, and Laurel misses what she thinks may have been half of it when Dinah shuffles even closer and leans more of her weight on Laurel. The hand she has around Dinah’s waist tightens more securely at the motion, and she tells herself she only does it because she wants to better steady Dinah - and not because it feels somewhat right to hold her like this. 

“... and I feel like I have to remind you that the strenuous activities do include sex. So no funny business while you’re recovering, Miss Drake.” 

The nurse delivers the instruction quite sternly, but her eyes are focused on Laurel when she says it and not on Dinah as they should, which nearly makes her choke. She chances a glance towards the other woman, who’s simply nodding along like nothing awkward has just transpired. And as if that wasn’t enough, it’s the doctor who throws the final hit that sends Laurel reeling into the abyss. 

“I would also recommend having someone stay responsible for keeping an eye on you and making sure you’re well cared for. I would say hiring a nurse could be a good idea...” The woman pauses and glances towards Laurel, tilting her head. “But perhaps Miss Lance would be a better choice in this case, seeing as she was so eager in having you discharged from my care.” 

Her attention snaps back to Dinah afterwards. “But that’s, of course, your choice to make.”

She notices Dinah throwing her a side glance and she throws one right back, narrowing her eyes just so as to convey how she feels about this possible arrangement - but as luck has it, either Dinah completely misses it or pretends she does, because next thing Laurel knows there’s a ‘term of responsibility’ paper being shoved in her direction for her to sign. 

It’s begrudgingly that she signs the damn thing in all the places she’s required to, all while cursing both her own self and Dinah Drake. She ignores the knowing look the doctor gives her as they shake hands; also the glare from nurse Susan that she can still feel burning a hole in the back of her skull as she maneuvers Dinah towards the elevator. It’s thankfully empty inside, and as the doors slide closed, Laurel lets out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, leans her head back against the cool metal and closes her eyes.

Her small moment of peace sadly doesn’t last more than a few minutes.

She feels Dinah shifting against her, somehow leaning even closer and Laurel opens one of her eyes, only to find the woman looking at her with amusement written all over her face. She raises an eyebrow at the sight and Dinah opens her mouth and gently attempts to clear her throat.

The words come out slowly and raspy. “Do I call you ‘nurse Laurel’ or ‘nurse Lance’?

Laurel lets out an audible groan. Dinah Drake will surely be the death of her. 

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, it's been a hot minute hasn't it?
> 
> I'm really sorry I didn't get to participate on the Dinahsiren week but sadly real life got in the way. I hope you all had fun though, and I'll see if I can finish and post my entries later on ♥
> 
> And yes I'm leaving this standing as a one shot, but perhaps I'll add an extra chapter or two later on ;)


End file.
